BURLINGTON — Southern Coffey County High’s Walker Harred, defending Class 1A discus champion, will get a chance to defend his throwing crown — and then some.
Harred capped his senior year by qualifying for state by winning all three throwing events — discus, shot put and javelin — at Friday’s regional track meet in Burlington.
Harred won the discus with a throw of 155 feet, 1 inch; the javelin at 157 feet and the shot put at 48’10”.
His performance highlighted the day for the Titans, who took second as a team. Southern Coffey County scored 69, behind champion Burrton’s 90 in the team standings.
Other highlights: SCC’s Hunter Pankey won the long jump (20’ 1/2”) and teammate Chonnor Ludolph took second in the triple jump (37’3 1/4”). The Titans’ 4×100-meter relay team also pulled in silver, with Michael Hill, Josiah Witteman, Pankey and Ludolph finishing in 46.09 seconds. Witteman also qualified in the high jump, clearing 5’8” — good for fourth. The top four finishers in each regional event qualify for state
On the girls side, SCC’s Adina Ratzlaff qualified by finishing third in the 400, with a time of 64.27 seconds. The Lady Titans’ 4×100-meter relay team of Kimberlyn Gunlock, Danielle Kasprzak, Erikah Lyons and Ratzlaff also qualified by finishing fourth at regionals.
CREST HIGH’S Rene Rodriguez earned his third straight state berth in the 100-meter dash and his second straight in the 200 meters. He won the 100 in 11.78 seconds and took second in the 200 at 24.15. (He medaled at state in both events in 2014.)
Rodriguez will be joined by teammate Evan Godderz, who finished third in the javelin at 152 feet. Gage Adams narrowly missed qualifying in the 200. He took fifth at 24.78 seconds.
Marmaton Valley High’s Brady Newman — whose woodworking wizardry was detailed in Saturday’s Register — showed once again he’s a force to contend with at the high jump.
Newman claimed his second consecutive regional crown by clearing 6’2” in the high jump.
On the girls’ side, Marmaton Valley’s 4×800-meter relay team of Misty Storrer, Shelby Yoho, Megan Ensminger and Kyla Drake teamed to finish second at 11:23.90.
Drake narrowly missed out on a state berth in the triple jump, falling to fifth at 31’ 3/4” after the fourth-place finisher nudged by one-half inch on her last leap of the day. Marmaton Valley’s Wyatt Bolinger also narrowly missed on qualifying, finishing fifth in the javelin.
THE STATE track meet will be Friday and Saturday at Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium. Full regional results follow.
